Stand in the Trench, Achilles

Classical Receptions in British Poetry of the Great War

Elizabeth Vandiver

Description

Elizabeth Vandiver examines the ways in which British poets of the First World War used classical literature, culture, and history as a source of images, ideas, and even phrases for their own poetry. Vandiver argues that classics was a crucial source for writers from a wide variety of backgrounds, from working-class poets to those educated in public schools, and for a wide variety of political positions and viewpoints. Poets used references to classics both to support and to oppose the war from its beginning all the way to the Armistice and after. By exploring the importance of classics in the poetry of the First World War, Vandiver offers a new perspective on that poetry and on the history of classics in British culture.

Stand in the Trench, Achilles

Classical Receptions in British Poetry of the Great War

Elizabeth Vandiver

Table of Contents

IntroductionI. Education, Class, and Classics 1. `Sed Miles, Sed Pro Patria': Classics and Public School Culture2. `Like the Roman in Brave Days of Old': Middle- and Working-Class ClassicsII. Representing War 3. `The Riches of a Spartan Soul': Duty, Honour, Glory, and Sacrifice4. `The Heroes Stir in their Lone Beds': The Second Trojan WarIII. Death and Remembrance 5. `Yet Many a Better One Has Died Before': Deaths Imagined6. `Their Doom Was Glorious': Commemoration and RemembranceConclusionBibliography Index

Stand in the Trench, Achilles

Classical Receptions in British Poetry of the Great War

Elizabeth Vandiver

Reviews and Awards

"The most useful as a compendium of information about the poets of the Great War. Her study opens discussion of their body of work to a wide audience and invites others to follow her lead. The work she has done to nail down the facts, particularly biographical details of the authors she cites, is as remarkable as is the exactness she strives for. This substantial volume will be particularly valuable to anyone concerned with or interested in the little-known poets and verse cited." --Bryn Mawr Classical Review